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“The Europe is …? – Long Live the New Europe!”
Conferences “The Europe is …? – Long Live the New Europe!”

“The Europe is …? – Long Live the New Europe!”

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Sheraton Grand Tbilisi Metechi Palace (20 Telavi St)

Following the UGSPN-conference tradition, which aims at elevating key events and topics that drive national, regional and global dynamics, the 2025 conference titled “THE EUROPE IS…? – LONG LIVE THE NEW EUROPE!” attempts to address the question of the European Idea and its future and challenges associated with it.

We are witnessing the worrying tendencies of growing transnationalization and coordination efforts of autocratic regimes that lead to direct and brutal attacks against democratic societies and nations. Therefore, the conference seeks to identify potent strategies to counter such attacks, as well as to identify key weaknesses (whether strategic, conceptual or operational) of liberal democracies to resist and prove themselves resilient against authoritarian advances. Furthermore, while the prospects of a new American isolationism trigger the old/new idea of the European autonomy in security and defence, the reality and practical challenges along with the existing systemic policy deficits, make the EU’s attempts to navigate to “safe waters” quite questionable.

Key panels will analyze Europe’s pursuit of security and defense autonomy amid shifting transatlantic relations, the dilemmas surrounding EU-enlargement with a focus on Eastern Europe, and the prospects for cooperation and integration in the South Caucasus. Further, the discussions will address the entrenchment of autocratic regimes, exploring societal resistance and institutional resilience. The discussion will engage critically with the role of political leaders and party structures in addressing contemporary challenges, including democratic backsliding and the war in Ukraine.

Towards Security/Defence Autonomy

Europe is forced to become more self-aware and self-sufficient in terms of security provision and defense. The rhetoric and actions initiated by the new Trump-administration leave no doubt about the intentions of the White House to radically reduce its military presence in Europe and even “sanction” those European NATO-members who refuse to increase their military spending above the agreed 2% of GDP. The transatlantic security cooperation, which rests not only on the fair share of military burden, but on extensive intelligence and defence industry collaboration, if left unchanged risks to generate significant challenges and threats for the European continent and therefore radically alter its political, as well as the socio-economic landscape. The panel speakers are invited to discuss the currents policies and tendencies and illuminate the prospects of potential security developments, policies and new conceptual frameworks.

New Eastern Europe: Enlargement Dilemma

As the European Union struggles to redefine its Enlargement perspectives, and the sense of strategic uncertainty is descending upon the continent, the European policies of enlargement and the logic of enlargement itself must be redefined, re-formulated and well understood. Not only from the perspective of the Brussels bureaucracy, but from the capitals of candidate countries, as well as of those

who do not exclude the possibility of a far stronger rapprochement with the EU, the mechanisms of Europeanisation, approximation and credible conditionality must be offered. Thus, the panel speakers will focus on the variety of options available in the context of strategic political and economic development. Not least the models of security arrangements necessary for securing the membership path offer a promising thematic field for discussion.

South Caucasus – Security through Cooperation and Integration

Two key events have dramatically changed the dynamics of processes in the South Caucasus (SC). The restoration of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan as a result of the lightning wars in 2022 and 2024, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine that propelled Georgia to gaining the EU-Candidate status, once again illustrated the fragility of the regional status-quo and re- ignited the “ancient” ideas of a stronger regional cooperation between the SC-countries. These ideas go even beyond the standard proposals of a more intensified cooperation and offer a full- fledged concept of South Caucasus integration centered around the core pillars of shared economy, transport and security. Whether lasting security can be achieved by mimicking the European experience of integrative efforts of past decades is an issue worth uncovering and analyzing in this panel.

Future of Autocracies: Societies in Change

Once heralded as the lighthouse of democracy in the post-soviet area, Georgia rapidly plunged into the club of authoritarian regimes and continues abolishing the remaining liberties the Georgian political system and society were so much proud of in the past. It appears that authoritarian tendencies have an impact on a global scale and increasingly display the quality of a well-coordinated effort. In fact, we are witnessing an unprecedented example of autocratic cooperation not only to survive but to prevail and collectively suppress democratic “challenges” globally.

In the first session of the panel an emphasis will be made on Georgia with some other relevant cases in which strategies and movements of resistance will be discussed that challenge autocracies, ranging from grassroots activism to institutional reforms. The second session will draw attention to the mechanisms of authoritarian entrenchment that turns into a sustainable phenomenon largely due to the mentioned practice of global autocratic collaboration. Participants are as invited to provide insights into the practices of democratic resilience and resistance (whether institutional or societal ones) while addressing the dynamics of digital disinformation, geopolitical pressures, and the evolving role of civil society

Leaders, Parties and Politics – the Organizational Causes of Failure?

As the united European response to Kremlins invasion in Ukraine demonstrates obvious cracks in speed, scale and credibility needed, pundits increasingly look for the contemporary Churchills capable of uniting Europe and standing up to the biggest threat in the continent since the fall of Soviet Union. Many question the ability of current political leaders to think and act strategically. Others claim that the political parties evolved to the strange structures that no longer have any bond to the regular citizens, and in fact turned into a profit-making like enterprises that no longer create politics but use politics for personal or organizational benefits. Some argue that the advance of populist leaders and parties is the global response to that failure. Whether there are structural causes of the failure of conventional party politics, or the global dynamics of socio-cultural change can serve as the plausible explanation, panel speakers are invited to reflect on these factors as well as on the future prospects of the relationship between parties, leaders and party politics.

Invited Speakers

“The Europe is …? – Long Live the New Europe!”
Krzysztof Brejza

Krzysztof Brejza

Member of the European Parliament | Lawyer

Krzysztof Brejza is a distinguished Polish politician and legal expert currently serving as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP), where he plays an active role on the Committees on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, and Foreign Affairs, including EU Enlargement. A dedicated member of the Civic Platform party, Brejza brings over two decades of public service and legislative experience to the European stage.

Born in Bydgoszcz, Poland, in 1983, Brejza holds a Master of Laws degree from the University of Warsaw and a Doctor of Juridical Science degree from the SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities. He also completed advanced studies in International Relations, reflecting his commitment to global dialogue and democratic governance.

His political career began at the regional level in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Regional Assembly before entering the national legislature in 2007 as a Member of the Sejm, where he served three consecutive terms. In 2019, he was elected to the Polish Senate, and in 2024, he assumed his current role in the European Parliament.

Brejza is a vocal advocate for European security, democratic integrity, civil rights, and digital security. In 2021, he was at the center of a high-profile surveillance scandal, after revelations that Pegasus spyware was used against him during the 2019 parliamentary elections while he was leading the Civic Coalition’s campaign. His response to these events has only strengthened his resolve to protect democratic institutions and individual freedoms across Europe.

Today, Krzysztof Brejza remains a key voice in shaping European policy on justice, human rights, and democratic resilience.
“The Europe is …? – Long Live the New Europe!”
Dr. Kostas Ifantis

Kostas Ifantis (Konstantinos Yfantis) is Professor of International Relations, Department of International and European Studies, Panteion University of Athens. He is also the Director of the Institute of International Relations (www.idis.gr). He served as an Associate Professor at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens until 2015. Among other he was a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, a Senior Research Fellow at the LSE, and a Visiting Professor at the University of Seoul. In 2012-2020 he was a Visiting Professor at Kadir Has University, Istanbul. His most recent publications include “Arms Racing, Military Build-Ups and Dispute Intensity: Evidence from the Greek-Turkish Rivalry, 1985-2020” in Defence and Peace Economics, 2023 and “The Burden of History, Image, Geopolitics and Misperception in the Aegean” in Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, 2025.
“The Europe is …? – Long Live the New Europe!”
Dr. Mustafa Aydin

Mustafa Aydın is a Professor of International Relations at Kadir Has University (Istanbul), and the President of International Relations Council of Turkey. Previously, he worked at Ankara University (1994-2005) and Economy and Technology University (2005-2009), and was the Rector of Kadir Has University between 2010 and 2018. Professor Aydın was guest researcher and/or lecturer at Michigan (1998), Harvard (2002, Fulbright fellow), and Athens (2003, Onassis Fellow) universities, as well as at Richardson Institute for Peace Studies (1999, Unesco Fellow), the EU Institute for Security Studies (2003) and the Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen (2018). He is a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Art, Greek-Turkish Forum, Global Relations Forum, European Leadership Network, International Studies Association, Turkish Atlantic Council, and the Turkish Political Sciences Association. He was member of Economy and Foreign Policy Study Group of the President of Turkey (2003-2009), Co-Coordinator of the International Commission on Black Sea (2010); and Director of International Policy Research Institute (2005-2011). Prof. Aydın’s areas of interest include international politics, foreign policy analysis, security issues related to Central Asia, Caucasus, the Black Sea and the Middle East, as well as Turkish foreign and security policies. Some of his works are International Security Today; Understanding Change and Debating Security (with K. Ifantis, 2006); Turkish Foreign and Security Policy (2006); Turkish Foreign Policy; Old Problems, New Parameters (2010); and Non-Traditional Security Threats and Regional Cooperation in the Southern Caucasus (2011)
“The Europe is …? – Long Live the New Europe!”
Dr. Michael Clarke

Michael Clarke is Visiting Professor of Defence Studies at King's College London, and the former Director General of the Royal United Services Institute. He has served as a Specialist Advisor to a number of different Parliamentary Committees and various government reviews of security and defence matters. He is currently Defence and Security Analyst at Sky News. His most recent book is Great British Commanders: Leadership, Strategy and Luck (2024). 
“The Europe is …? – Long Live the New Europe!”
Jakob Hedenskog

Jakob Hedenskog is an Analyst at Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies (SCEEUS) at UI.

Jakob Hedenskog came to UI from the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI) in 2021. He has many years of experience studying Russia and Eastern Europe, in particular Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, and the countries in the South Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia). Jakob has a master’s degree in Slavic languages and political science with a focus on Eastern Europe from Uppsala University. He has previously also worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs based at the embassy in Kyiv.
“The Europe is …? – Long Live the New Europe!”
Dr. Frederic Labarre

Born in Greenfield Park, Quebec, Canada. I began my career as policy advisor at the Estonian Ministry of Defence, then back to Canada as International Liaison for the Royal Military College of Canada (Kingston) 2001-2004, which was followed by deployments to the NATO Defense College 2004-2007, Emergency Management College of Canada and Canadian Forces Leadership Institute in 2007, Baltic Defence College (Tartu, Estonia) 2008-2010, and, after a few years as a private consultant in Ottawa, back in Germany as a contractor for the US Department of Defense, deployed at the Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes from 2014 to 2018. Since 2019, I have been lecturing at the Royal Military College of Canada in Canadian politics, Strategy and Terrorism Studies. I received my PhD from RMC in 2024. My expertise lies at the intersection of academic research, project management, and academic administration and lecturing. My regional expertise pertains to NATO-Russia relations, former Soviet Union, missile defence and security studies. I have co-chaired the Regional Stability in the South Caucasus Study Group since 2012, and have been collaborating with the Austrian National Defence Academy since 2001. Contact : flabarrephd@gmail.com or frederic.labarre@rmc.ca

“The Europe is …? – Long Live the New Europe!”
Dr. Ramona Coman

Ramona Coman is Professor in Political Science at the Université libre de Bruxelles and Emeritus President of the Institut d’études européennes. She is the author of The Politics of the Rule of Law in the EU Polity: Actors, Tools and Challenges (Palgrave 2022), Réformer la justice dans un pays post-communiste. Le cas de la Roumanie (Editions de l’Université de Bruxelles) and the co-editor of Politics and Governance in the Post-Crisis European Union (Cambridge University Press, 2020). Coman teaches courses on Decision-Making in the EU, the Rule of Law and Mutual Trust in Global and European Governance as well the PhD Seminar on Theory, Research and Methods in Political Science. Since 2023 she is a visiting professor at the College of Europe in Bruges. As of October 2022, she is the Principal Investigator of the Horizon Europe project “Respond to Emerging Dissensus: Supranational Instruments and Norms of European Democracy” (RED-SPINEL, 2022-2025) and the academic coordinator of the Marie Sklodowska Curie Joint Doctorate Network GEM-DIAMOND, which examine the growing dissensus over liberal democracy and its implications for the EU’s policies, politics, and polity.
“The Europe is …? – Long Live the New Europe!”
Alexander Sikorski

Alexander Sikorski is an international campaigner; most recently he advised the democratic opposition in Georgia. Previously, Alexander ran the Human Rights Foundation's Eastern Europe desk, where he supported democratic and civil society organizations in Belarus and Ukraine. He is the founder of Zryw Foundation, which supports students pursuing careers in the public sector. Alexander holds a BA from Yale University and an MA from the College of Europe
“The Europe is …? – Long Live the New Europe!”
Ahmad ALILI 

Mr Ahmad ALILI - Director of Caucasus Policy Analysis Centre (CPAC), Researcher in International Public Policy and Conflict Resolution. Conducting Qualitative and Quantitative research on Foreign Policy, International Public Policy, and Regional Security in the South Caucasus. Member of several international initiatives on peace, regional security and cooperation.

Mr Alili is also lecturing at the Academy of Public Administration on topics such as Geopolitics, Comparative politics, and the role of NGOs in good governance and public policy. Managed international organisation-funded projects. Presented speeches at various international and local conferences. Trained government employees, teachers-researchers, students, youth activists, civil society actors and sensitive group representatives on multiple topics, including good governance, peace and regional security, the conflicts in the South Caucasus, the role of international organisations in mediating peace, regional economy and peace, radicalisation, the role of NGOs in consulting public

institutions, etc.

Authored, edited and co-edited various handbooks on regional security, radicalisation and media reporting.
“The Europe is …? – Long Live the New Europe!”
Wouter Zweers

Wouter Zweers is a Research Fellow at the Netherlands Institute of International Relations ‘Clingendael’, specialising in EU external policies, particularly EU enlargement and the Eastern dimension of the European Neighbourhood Policy. He has published extensively on EU accession, geopolitical competition and security and stability in East and South-East Europe, Dutch attitudes towards EU reforms and enlargement, and many more related topics. At Clingendael, he coordinates Clingendael’s ‘Enlargement Hub’, a platform fostering collaboration with Western Balkans, Moldovan, Ukrainian and Georgian think tanks for joint research and events. He holds a BA in European Studies from the University of Amsterdam and an MA in International Public Management and Policy from Erasmus University Rotterdam.
“The Europe is …? – Long Live the New Europe!”
Dr. Sanna Salo

Sanna Salo is a Senior Researcher at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. She earned her PhD in 2017 from the European University Institute in Florence, Italy and has since, before joining FIIA in 2022, worked at the Universities of Maastricht, Stockholm and Helsinki.

Salo’s field of expertise is comparative European politics, especially the Nordic countries and, most recently, Germany. Her research focuses on the responses of mainstream European political parties towards the challenge of the rising far right. Salo currently works in two projects: RESLIDE, studying the Resilience of Liberal Democracy in Finland, with funding from the Finnish Strategic Research Council. Secondly, Salo runs her own project titled Divided and Lost? The Strategies of Center-Right Parties to the Radical Right Challenge in Finland, Sweden and Germany, funded by the Kone Foundation

Salo has written extensively on the topic of mainstream party responses to the far right. Together with Professor Jens Rydgren (Stockholm University) she has published a book titled The Battle Over Working-Class Voters: How Social Democracy Has Responded to the Populist Radical Right in the Nordic Countries (2021), which studies the responses of Nordic labor movements to the rise of the radical right in the region.
“The Europe is …? – Long Live the New Europe!”
Dr. Korneli Kakachia

Kornely Kakachia is a Professor of Political Science and Jean Monnet Chair at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Georgia. He is also the Director of the Tbilisi-based think tank Georgian Institute of Politics. His current research focuses on Georgian domestic and foreign policy, security issues of the wider Black Sea area, and comparative party politics. He was a recipient of IREX and OSI fellowships and was a visiting fellow at Harvard University’s Black Sea Security program (2009–2010), Harriman Institute, Columbia University (2011), and The Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. Prof. Kakachia is co-editor of the book  “Georgia’s Foreign Policy in the 21st Century: Challenges for a Small State” (London, New York: I.B. Tauris, 2021).
“The Europe is …? – Long Live the New Europe!”
Amb. Gigi Gigiadze

Gigi Gigiadze joined the Economic Policy Research Center as Senior Fellow in March 2021. In 2001 he graduated from Georgian Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University with the Master’s Degree in international relations. Throughout different periods he studied in Germany and in 1999 as the recipient of the Alfred Toepfer Stiftung F.V.S. scholarship spent one academic year at the University of Hamburg where he studied political and social sciences.

As a career diplomat Gigi Gigiadze has 24 years of working experience at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. Since 2000 he held different positions at the Ministry’s European Affairs Department, where he was in charge of bilateral relations with the West European countries and later became the head of the same department.

Between 2014-2016 in the capacity of the Deputy Foreign Minister of Georgia, Gigi Gigiadze was in charge of the bilateral relations with the neighboring countries, European countries and the European Union. At the same time, he was chief negotiator of the Georgian side with the European Union on the Visa Liberalization Action Plan (VLAP).

During his extensive diplomatic career Gigi Gigiadze served in the Georgian diplomatic missions in Athens and Berlin, where he was in charge of political as well as consular issues. Until March 2021 Gigi Gigiadze was Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to the Kingdom of Denmark and the Republic of Iceland with residence in Copenhagen.
“The Europe is …? – Long Live the New Europe!”
Amb. Zohrab Mnatsakanyan

Mr. Zohrab Mnatsakanyan was Armenia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs from May 2018 until his resignation in November 2020. As a career diplomat, he entered Armenia’s diplomatic service in 1991. In his early career he held various posts in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Embassy of Armenia to the United Kingdom, the Offices of the Prime Minister and the President of Armenia. In 2002 he became Armenia’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office and other International Organisations at Geneva, as well as Armenia’s Ambassador to Switzerland. In 2008 he was appointed Armenia’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg (France). Between 2011 and 2014 he held the post of Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chief Negotiator of EU-Armenia Association Agreement. In 2014 he became Armenia’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. He is a graduate of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations and the Victoria University of Manchester. Currently he is an independent consultant and a guest lecturer at the American University of Armen
“The Europe is …? – Long Live the New Europe!”
Dr. Sascha Hach

Dr. Sascha Hach is a Researcher in the Research Depart­ment Inter­national Insti­tutions and teaches at the Uni­versity of the Federal Armed Forces in Munich. His research interests include Euro­pean security, disar­mament and arms control, nu­clear order, France and the United Nations. Dr. Hach is Associate and coordinator of the Arms Control Negotiation Academy (ACONA). He studied Peace Research and International Politics in Tübingen and Medford and received his doctorate from the Goethe University in Frankfurt. His professional experience includes working as a Political Advisor in the German Bundestag on defense and arms control issues and for various  NGOs on development cooperation, international security and health. He is a co-founder of the German section of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017, and served as its managing director for several years.
“The Europe is …? – Long Live the New Europe!”
Dr. Szabolcs Pogonyi

Szabolcs Pogonyi is Associate Professor and currently Program Director at the Nationalism Studies Program at Central European University. His current research focuses on diasporic nation building, transborder minorities, non-resident citizenship and external voting. He is the author of several articles in political theory and editor of books in the history of political thought. His research on contemporary Hungarian diaspora politics and transborder nation building (Extra-Territorial Ethnic Politics, Discourses and Identities in Hungary) was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2017.
“The Europe is …? – Long Live the New Europe!”
Dr. Fernando Casal Bértoa

Fernando Casal Bértoa is an Associate Professor in the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Nottingham (United Kingdom). He is co-director of REPRESENT: Research Centre for the Study of Parties and Democracy. Member of the OSCE/ODIHR “Core Group of Political Party Experts”, he is also International IDEA and Westminster Foundation for Democracy collaborator as well as Venice Commission and United Nations expert. His work has been published in Journal of Politics, British Journal of Political Science, Perspectives on Politics, European Journal of Political Research, Sociological Methods and Research, Journal of Democracy, Electoral Studies, West European Politics, Party Politics, European Political Science Review, Democratization, European Constitutional Law Review, Political Studies Review, European Political Science, Government and Opposition, International Political Science Review, Political Research Exchange, Representation, Politics and Governance, Research and Politics, Policy Studies, European Politics and Society, South European Society and Politics, Italian Political Science Review, Irish Political Studies, East European Politics and Societies, East European Politics, Public Money and Management, or Frontiers in Political Science. He was awarded the 2017 Gordon Smith and Vincent Wright Memorial Prize, the 2017 AECPA Prize for the Best Article, the 2018 Vice-Chancellor Medal of the University of Nottingham for “exceptional achievements” and the 2022 Routledge Area Studies Impact Award. His latest monograph, winner of the 2022 AECPA Best Book Prize and runner-up for the 2022 Stein Rokkan Prize, is titled Party System Closure: Party Alliances, Government Alternative and Democracy in Europe (Oxford University Press, 2021).
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